Chapter 103
Labyrinth Day 57.
The corpse of the Mechanic Hydra.
In other words, all the parts of the Hydra were transported to the Machine Factory.
─ Piyong piyong. Finally done with the transport.
Outside the Machine Factory.
Omega smiled in satisfaction while looking at the tightly packed parts inside the massive warehouse.
Yumi — The warehouse is about to burst.
Rize Nova — It’s definitely not a small warehouse, but it looks small because there are too many parts of the Mechanic Hydra.
Pururu — But in the end, the Jellyfish Princess took down the Mechanic Hydra all by herself.
Mysticism —
Boglebogle — That’s not true. The others distracted it and bought time for her to unleash her ultimate ability. Bastet finished it off too.
Yumi — That’s right. And if the Princess was alone, she wouldn’t have gotten such valuable machine parts.
Pururu — That’s true.
Mysticism —
Mysticism — I think…
Pururu — Don’t think!
Mysticism — I believe the credit goes to Neo Japan. They fed the Princess a lot of blood!
Boglebogle — That’s also a valid point.
Kiiiiiing- thunk!
The massive door of the warehouse closed.
Omega turned around and looked at the exploration team.
─ Then let’s head to the explorer… no, the place with the gauntlet. Piyong.
Building civilization in various parts of the Labyrinth.
Creating new machines from the parts of the Mechanic Hydra.
And researching the feelings towards the Supported One to understand the Principle of Ability.
Omega postponed these three tasks for later.
First, she must meet me directly.
She said she would take care of the tasks I requested.
The exploration team nodded and tried to turn away.
Seeing that, Omega tilted her head.
─ Where are you going? Piyong?
─ Aren’t we heading back to where my father is right now?
Aracne stopped walking and asked.
Omega shook her head.
─ It’s true we’re about to leave, but I have no intention of walking. Were you planning to walk back? Piyong?
─ …That’s true, right? We walked here too. Is there a monster we can ride?
─ Piyong piyong. Of course. It’s not a monster, but it’s a machine.
The moment Omega finished her sentence.
Whoooosh!
As if waiting, a huge silver machine descended from the sky.
The machine hovered a few meters above the ground, suspended.
It was roughly 100 meters long.
Its overall shape was elongated and oval, characterized by sharp ends at both front and back.
There were no visible joints on its smooth surface.
No engines or thrust devices could be seen at the rear.
Pururu — What’s that?
Mysticism —
Boglebogle — What a strangely shaped machine.
It wasn’t quite snake-like.
If anything, it looked like a long capsule pill flying in the sky.
─ We will be traveling in this. It’s called the Hyper Express. Piyong piyong.
So that was the mode of transportation.
Now that I see, it also resembled a train.
─ First, I’ll load the necessary parts in the cargo hold. You guys board first. Piyong.
Rize Nova — Where’s the entrance? I can’t see it.
Zzzzzing-
With a soft sound, the side of the Hyper Express split cleanly.
That seemed to be the entrance.
Pururu — The door is opening!
Mysticism — Pururu goes in now~
Yumi — Wow. I looked for the entrance for a long time, and it was hidden like this.
As the entrance opened,
Aracne carried Jellyfish and boarded first.
The Jellyfish was still unable to move properly due to the energy expenditure from yesterday.
Following that, other exploration team monsters climbed onto the Hyper Express one by one, and lastly, the two Iris’s entered, illuminating the interior space.
The inside felt quite spacious.
It was several times larger than it appeared from the outside.
It seemed to be a means of transportation equipped with space-manipulating technology.
After finishing my survey of the interior, I switched the screen.
Back to Iris, who was following Omega closely.
“Omega. But isn’t that vehicle too big? No matter how I look at it, it seems it won’t fit through the door connecting to the deep sea.”
─ Piyong piyong? Don’t worry about that. The Hyper Express has size compression technology built in.
From what I heard next,
Once everyone boarded and the door closed, the Hyper Express could shrink down to the size of Iris.
Of course.
Even if it shrank, the internal space would remain the same.
So, regardless of the size reduction,
there would be no effect on those who had already entered the Hyper Express.
The internal size would still be maintained.
Pururu — What’s with this technology?
Mysticism — Amazing!
Yumi — It’s real future technology. If Gun-yi supports these kinds of machines, Earth will surely progress rapidly.
Boglebogle — I want one too!
─ I’ve packed everything I need… If I need anything else, I can just warp it over, so I should board soon. Piyong piyong.
Having loaded several machine parts in the cargo hold, Omega closed the cargo door and entered through the passenger entrance on the side of the Hyper Express.
And as the door quietly closed,
the Hyper Express gradually shrank until it was the same size as Iris.
The Iris, who was watching that scene, decided to stay with the Machine Factory.
After getting ready, the Hyper Express started moving smoothly and set off.
*
Passing through the desolate area filled with mechanical debris.
Exiting a narrow, long passage, before soon arriving at a gigantic door at the bottom of the deep sea.
The time taken was only 30 minutes.
Faster than expected.
Pururu — Wow. That’s crazy fast. The speed is unbelievable.
Mysticism —
On the screen inside the Hyper Express, the outside scene was vividly displayed.
Near the huge door,
a recently tamed Deep Guardian could be seen waiting.
Boglebogle — Looks like the Deep Guardian had been waiting there the whole time.
Rize Nova — It seems like it’s designated that spot as its territory now.
Yumi — It feels kind of sad. Waiting forlornly for friends, not knowing when they’ll return…
The Hyper Express entered the deep sea.
Soon, it slightly increased its size before the side split to open the door.
I don’t know what technology made this possible,
but somehow, water didn’t flow over the door, nor did it rush into the Hyper Express.
Omega, who was inside, slowly walked out into the deep sea along with Iris.
─ Piyong piyong. Is this the Deep Guardian that the Gauntlet mentioned?
Here, there was a faster way to move.
A method to ascend to the water surface in less than a second.
Of course, before using that method, I had to ask the Deep Guardian something.
“Deep Guardian. Can you expel something even if it’s not a creature?”
─ Yes.
“Good. And I can expel it not back the way the exploration team came but up to the surface of the sea, right?”
─ Yes.
The quick way to rise to the sea surface.
It was purposely taking the expulsion from the Deep Guardian.
Then I would suddenly be up at the water’s surface.
Since it could expel non-creatures, there was no problem in using this method.
“Omega. The confirmation is done, so we can go back in now.”
─ Piyong piyong. Please wait a moment.
Omega opened the cargo door.
And after picking up a mechanical device, she started to install it next to the huge door.
─ I should install one here as well. Piyong.
The machine was called a Warp Device.
Also known as a Portal Generator.
Identical devices were installed in various places in the machine factory, and all warp devices are interconnected.
Furthermore, with simple manipulation, a user could specify the warp device they want to travel to, and when the device is activated, a portal opens that allows passage to another warp device.
In simpler terms, it was a machine that allowed for instant travel over long distances.
They also said they would install one in our hideout.
Yumi — From now on, exploration will be much easier.
Pururu — For real! A trip that would take days can now be done in a single snap, in just one second. Awesome.
Boglebogle — It’s like a teleportation magic tool or something.
After finishing the installation of the Warp Device, Omega boarded the Hyper Express again.
“Deep Guardian. Once Iris is inside too and the door closes, please expel us to the sea surface.”
─ Yes.
Iris also followed Omega inside.
And the moment the Hyper Express shrank,
Paaaahh-!
The Hyper Express carrying the exploration team was expelled and instantly rose to the uninhabited island above.
Pururu — But hey, are you just going to leave the Deep Guardian alone down there? Since you’ve tamed it, isn’t it right to take it with you and raise it?
Yumi — That’s right. It feels sad to leave it alone.
“It can’t properly move out of the water and can’t use its abilities, right?”
Pururu —
Mysticism — Abandoning the Deep Guardian.
“Of course, I’m not going to irresponsibly leave it there all alone. Later, when I build a town in the deep sea, I plan to appoint the Deep Guardian as the guardian there.”
Yumi — Wow.
Pururu — A city underwater?
Mysticism — Ah, if you make a city, there will be other friends too, so it won’t be lonely!
Originally, I was going to create a Desert Rest Area.
Or rather, a Beach Rest Area, something very small like a Desert Rest Area.
However, after meeting Omega, my plans changed.
Since Omega suggested building civilizations throughout the Ancient Labyrinth, I decided to put in a little more effort and cultivate a massive town instead.
Of course, I was thinking of developing the Desert Rest Area into a town as well.
‘If that happens, I’ll need to place plenty of monsters in the town… So I’ll have to leave only minimal monsters behind in the current area. Like an elite Headquarters team.’
Desert Town, Underwater Town, and more.
I slowly organized in my mind the monsters that would be assigned to different locations and those that would remain at the headquarters.
About 40 minutes passed like this.
Shhhiiing-
Along with the Hyper Express.
The exploration team that had set off on a long expedition returned.
Pururu — ? I just had lunch, and they’re already back.
The speed was truly astonishing.